Do Dolphins Need a New Kickoff Returner with New Rules?

The NFL approved a new rule designed to eliminate the large number of touchbacks and fair catches

The kickoff return actually will be a thing again in the NFL in 2024, so do the Miami Dolphins need to do anything to adjust and take advantage of this?

The new rule, adopted by NFL owners at the league meetings Tuesday on a one-year trial basis, will copy the XFL kickoff, with all players from the kicking team (other than the kicker lined up at the opponent 40-yard line, nine players from the receiving team between the receiving 30 and 35, and two returners in the landing zone between the goal line and the 20, with nobody allowed to start running until the ball is fielded.

There are penalties for kickoffs that land short of the landing zone or land in the end zone.

The idea was to revive a once-exciting NFL play that became boring because of the high number of touchbacks in recent years, and from this end we're all for it.

CAN DOLPHINS SUCCEED WITH NEW KICKOFF RULE?

The new rule again will put an emphasis on having a kickoff returner who can break a long one because those opportunities will be there again.

Braxton Berrios handled both the punt and kickoff return duties last season and the longest of his 18 kickoff returns went only for 33 yards. That still was the best mark for the Dolphins since 2020 when Jakeem Grant took one back 45 yards.

Berrios is back with the Dolphins after re-signing as an unrestricted free agent and it's entirely possible he'll resume his role as wide receiver and primary returner, but it's fair to wonder whether the team would be well served to bring in perhaps a more dynamic returner.

Grant is an unrestricted free agent, but he's coming off a very serious knee injury he sustained in the 2023 preseason while with the Cleveland Browns. Other UFAs with strong kickoff return credentials include Jamal Agnew, DeAndre Carter and veteran runner/receiver/returner Cordarrelle Patterson.

We should mention that while Berrios didn't break a long one last season and his longest return in 2022 with the Jets was 42 yards, he did have a 102-yard touchdown for New York in 2021. But the truth is he doesn't have the home-run ability of other returners.

Regardless of their own returner, the Dolphins will have to bear down and do a better job of covering kicks, particularly with the new rule.

They were burned twice in key late in the season, by a long kickoff return at the start of the second half in the Week 17 game at Baltimore and by a game-changing punt return for a touchdown in the regular season finale against Buffalo.